The former England player helped the team win 19 of their 50 internationals during his tenure
ESPNcricinfo Staff
After a successful stint with the Afghanistan men’s cricket team, former England batsman Jonathan Trott’s contract as coach has been extended by a year. His 18-month tenure ended in 2023, but the ACB opted to keep him for 2024 as well.
Afghanistan made remarkable gains on the field last year, culminating in their performance in the ODI World Cup where they beat Pakistan, England, Sri Lanka and the Netherlands. They were also close to beating eventual champions Australia until Glenn Maxwell played one of the greatest innings of all time.
Trott spoke to ESPNcricinfo in the wake of that campaign which saw Afghanistan enter the Cricket World Cup with just one win and increased that number to five until the end of the tournament. “I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time with them so far,” he said. “It will be nice to be able to build on the success we had at this World Cup.”
Overall, Trott, who was first appointed as Afghanistan coach in July 2022, helped the team win eight from 23 ODIsincluding a maiden win over Bangladesh, and 11 from 26 T20Isincluding a maiden series win over Pakistan.
Afghanistan are currently playing a three-match T20I series against UAE where the score is 1-1. They will then play India in a three-set T20I in January in preparation for the T20 World Cup in the West Indies and USA in June.
Trott had a historic spell with England, especially in Test cricket where he scored 3835 runs in 52 matches and was one of the pillars of their Ashes triumph in 2010-11. At his peak as a player capable of hitting long innings and building huge innings, Trott’s success also translated well into ODI cricket where he made 2819 runs at an average of 51 with four hundreds and 22 fifties. Towards the end of his career, however, the intensity of his game took a toll on him and he needed a break from cricket in 2013-14. Trott finally retired from his England duties in 2015. The Afghanistan job was his first time as a men’s head coach in international cricket.